California Minimum Wage Ordinances: Employers Cannot Rely on State and Federal Law Alone

California’s minimum wage increased to $10 per hour effective January 1, 2016. This is the second increase in just 18 months under legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013. This latest increase to the statewide minimum wage is not the only one facing California employers. At least twelve cities across California have already enacted their own minimum wage ordinances – and several other cities are looking to follow suit.

To complicate matters more for business owners, HR and payroll administrators, and managers, several of these local ordinances also include posting and mandatory sick leave requirements (above and beyond California’s recently-enacted statewide sick leave law). This patchwork of laws creates an administrative quagmire for employers—particularly those with multiple locations across the state.

The twelve cities that have enacted local minimum wage ordinances are listed below, together with their applicable local minimum wage rates and known upcoming increases:

City

Local Minimum Wage As of January 2016

Upcoming Increases in Near Future

Berkeley

$11.00/hour

$12.53/hour

(effective October 1, 2016)

Emeryville

$12.25/hour for

businesses with 55 or

fewer employees

–

$14.44/hour for

businesses with more

than 55 employees

$13/hour for

businesses with 55 or

fewer employees

–

$14.82/hour for

businesses with more

than 55 employees

(effective July 1, 2016)

Long Beach

$13.80/hour

—

Los Angeles

$10.50/hour

for businesses with

26 or more employees

(effective July 1, 2016)

$15.37/hour

for hotel workers

$10.50/hour

for business with

25 or fewer employees

(effective July 1, 2017)

Mountain View

$11.00/hour

—

Oakland

$12.55/hour

—

Palo Alto

$11.00/hour

—

Richmond

$11.52/hour

—

San Francisco

$12.25/hour

$13.00/hour

(effective July 1, 2016)

San Jose

$10.30/hour

—

Santa Clara

$11.00/hour

—

Sunnyvale

$10.30/hour

—

In addition to these cities, which all have active minimum wage laws, Sacramento has a minimum wage ordinance that goes into effect in 2017 and San Diego (via ballot referendum) and Pasadena are among the cities that are close to enacting their own minimum wage ordinances as well.

We will try to keep you posted and update this information regularly. Employers with workers in California should consult legal counsel to make sure they are complying not only with state law, but with any local wage and hour laws as well.